Winter Disease Prevention...

Last week we did our final chemical application on greens for the year.  The main target of this application is a disease called Snow Mold.  Snow Mold is a fungus that strives during the cold, winter months and takes advantage of weakened turf plants while temperatures are low and also when there is persistent snow coverage.  The turf is weak this time of year because it has used up all of it carbohydrate reserves and energy to try to stay green and healthy before going dormant for the winter.

Snow mold can affect all types of turf in our region but Creeping bentgrass and Annual Bluegrass, Poa, are most susceptible.  Since the primary turf type on our playing surfaces in Creeping bentgrass this is a disease that we do need to be cautious of and try to prevent.  A big component that brings about this disease is periods of elongated snow coverage, 20+ days in a row, which we don't typically have every year but there is always a chance that we can get a huge snow storm that brings about that type of snow.  This is why every year it is in our chemical program to treat greens sometime after Thanksgiving for snow mold.

  Infected turf from this disease is typically collapsed and has visible mold on it.  Also the diameter of these rings range anywhere from 6 inches to 18 inches to even a yard wide in extreme cases.

Thank You to my staff...

So with my first year in the books here at Piedmont, I can not thank my staff enough for all their hard work and dedication to club to make my first year a success.  I wanted to take a moment here to introduce my staff so when you see them out there you can say hi and thank them for their work because they are the ones that make this a great golf course...

From Left to Right in the Photo:

• Haroldo Mayorga - Haroldo has been here at Piedmont for 4 years now and besides his great work ethic and attention to detail he brings positive attitude to my department and has a willingness to do any task asked of him and do it well.
• Rene Rosales - Rene is my mechanic and of all the mechanics I have worked with in the past he by far has the most positive attitude and is an absolute pleasure to work with.  Besides the positive attitude he is a great mechanic and has such a familiarity with equipment here that he can get pretty much anything to run.
• Fredys Corrales - Fredys has been here from the beginning.  He is one of my top operators and knows where everything is around the property.  Being a new superintendent, I can not express enough how much it has helped me my first year having a guy that I can give a task to and that's it.  I can give Fredys his job first thing in the morning and I can walk away confident that his task will done correct and efficiently.
• Aleida Meza - Aleida, though she has not been here as long as Fredys and his brother Javier, has been on the maintenance staff for 13+ years.  She takes great pride in being able to do everything that the boys can do and is an extremely hard worker.  Again, like everyone else on the staff she comes to work with a great attitude and work ethic.
• Myself
• Roberto Martinez - Roberto is my foreman and my irrigation tech.  After my assistant, Chris, he is next in charge.  It has been a huge help having another person that can handwater, spray, and run the crew when needed.  On top of being able to do all of that, Roberto is great with fixing all problems that we may encounter with our irrigation system.
• Chris Rainbolt -  Chris is my assistant.  He got his turf degree from Rutgers University.  He also has interned at TPC Potomac (also while I was an assistant superintendent there) and Robert Trent Jones.  It has been great having Chris because even though he is relatively new to the industry he comes to work everyday ready to work, learn, and grow into becoming a better assistant.  And I look forward to watching him grow in his role over the coming years.
• James Altizer - James is the diamond in the rough that we added to the crew this year.  Though he is new to Piedmont he is not new to the golf course maintenance industry.  He came to us back in April and from day one he could anything on the course from course set-up and mowing to spraying and watering.  The rest of the staff treats him like he has been here for years and he has been a great addition to the team.
• Javier Gutierrez - Like his brother Fredys, Javier has been a member of the staff since the grow in.  He can operate every piece of equipment and shows great pride in everything he does.  I know when I give Javier a job to do that it will be done right the first time and that he will put 100% effort into making sure he does great work.

Again, my success has all been due to everyone in the photo above.  I can not thank them enough for everything they do not only for me but for Piedmont Club.

Thank You GCM... 

Course Amenities and Par 3 Tees...

Staring Monday November 27th we are asking members hitting from the white and blue tees to start using the mats that we have placed around the tees.  This year, to help preserve the tees even more during the winter months, I would like to keep all traffic off the heavily used par 3 tees to protect the turf for the spring.  We will topdressing and fertilizing the tees with the aerification but along with that we will be filling the divots with seed and sand separately.  We will not see a full recovery from the divots with the colder temperatures upon us but it will give us a good head start for the spring.  Please use the mats through March of 2018 and thank you for helping establish a better teeing surface for the spring...

Along with going to the mats my staff and I will start bringing in all the amenities from the course.  That will include:

• Water Cooler Houses
• Ball Washers
• Score Card Boxes
• Divot Sand Buckets
• Non-permanent Benches
• Trash Cans
• Bag Stands
• Tee Markers
• Most of the Bunker Rakes

We bring in all the amenities not only to get them out of the elements during the winter months but to also clean them up, sand them down, and re-paint or stain so that they look fresh for opening day in the spring.  With tee markers coming in for the winter we ask that you play from the yardage plaques on the tees.  And bunker rakes will be left out there but we will take a majority of them off the course so we ask that you please place them in easily accessible spots when you finish raking the bunker.  Thank You 

November Update and Look Ahead...

      Now that the prime golf season is behind us and cool temperatures are approaching, it is time for my staff and I to start focusing winter projects and important agronomic practices that will help keep Piedmont great.

Tee Aerification and Bunker Elimination:  I know I touched on these points the other week but we will be continuing with our tee aerification over the next couple weeks.  Again it important we aerify to not only relieve compaction and improve drainage but it opens up channels for oxygen, nutrients, and water to reach the root system.  Aerification is arguable the most important agronomic practice we do as superintendents and doing it this time of year is almost like hitting the “reset button.”  We will be topdressing and fertilizing them heavy along with the aerification and come next spring when growing conditions improve we should have great tees for the upcoming season.  Along with the core aerification, we will be using the plugs to fill in a select few bunkers (#8, #9, and #14).

#4 Green:  #4 green is now being mown at the same height as the rest of the greens on the course, which is .12 hundredths of an inch.  It is still a new green but I have been happy with how it held up all year to the stresses that come with growing grass outside Washington D.C.  The plan is to continue treating it like a new green through the winter but hopefully by the time spring comes around next year it will be mature enough that I can manage it the same as the other greens on the course.

Tree Work/Removal:  A big task my staff and I are going to focus on this winter is improving air flow around the course.  Whether that is clearing underbrush in heavily wooded areas, taking limbs off of trees, or taking trees down entirely one thing I noticed in my first year that there are a few areas on greens that struggle or stay wet entirely too long.  A major reason for that is poor air flow.  Obviously the houses have something to do with that as well but with areas like to the left of #17 green and to the right of #6 green and even to the right of #16 green we can go in there and clear a lot of material out that will not only improve air flow but to reduce shade and improve sunlight on areas that may stay overly saturated. 

Frost Delays:  It’s that time of year again, though it has been a mild fall so far FROST DELAYS are right around the corner.  Frost is essentially frozen dew that forms ice crystals on the outside of the plant.  Obviously the turf is resilient to foot and cart traffic during regular weather conditions but when the plant has frost on it, it becomes brittle and fragile.  And when pressure is applied to the turf plant in this state the plant tissue will be punctured by the ice crystals and plant cells will rupture.  Damage caused by traffic won’t be visible right away, it will take several days before you start to see the signs of frost damage.  On top of that, frost damage caused by cart or foot traffic coupled with dormant turf and poor growing conditions means we will be looking footprints and cart tracks until the spring.  So please, be patient when we say there is a frost delay it is better to play it safe vs. stare of photos like below all winter long.

A little brush up before we get into full swing...

With spring rapidly approaching I wanted to take a few moments to brush up on some etiquette topics that not only positively impact the golf course but also your experience and the experience of your guests and other members.

Repair Your Ball Marks and One Other:

This is sometime simple that everyone should do as they play.  Take a prolonged object with a pointed edge, a proper ball mark repair tool is best but a tee will work just fine as well.  As displayed below you want to insert the tool into the turf at the edge of the ball mark and push towards or twist towards the center of the indentation.  You want to do this in three or four places around the ball mark until it enclosed and then tap down with you foot or putter.  You NEVER want to repair a ball mark by lifting up from the center, that will expose more soil to the surface and tear the roots which will extend the heeling time of that ball mark.

Remember you are doing this to improve the putting surface for yourself, your guest, and other members so when you finish repairing your ball mark, repair one other before leaving the green.

How to repair a ball mark.

Bunker Etiquette:  First things first, when it comes to bunker etiquette, always enter the bunker on the low side.  Major disruption and damage is caused by people entering the bunker on the high, step sides.  Also, when entering the bunker take the rake in with you.  Remember to use two hands and smooth out any disruptions caused by your feet or the ball first with the back side of the rake and then  rake out the disrupted area always pushing the sand way.  Lines and indentations are made when the sand is raked and pulled back towards you.  Finally, when raking out the bunker you want to exit the bunker the same way you entered minimizing the amount of area you disturb.

But you are not done just yet when you exit the bunker.  Rake placement is a key part to bunker etiquette.  You want to make sure that the rake is always placed on the outer side of the bunker so that it will have the least impact on play with the handle laying parallel with the line of the incoming show.  Also around greens, make sure to never place the rake between the bunker and the green

Proper Bunker Rake Placement for #1 Greenside Bunker

Incorrect Bunker Rake Placement for #1 Greenside Bunker

How To Rake a Bunker...






























Divot Repair:  Whenever someone asks me "What is the right way to fill a divot?", I always tell them "Less is More."  When adding sand to a divot, you are merely bridging the gap for the turf to grow over.  Giving it a medium to grow through.  When you mound up the sand it does nothing but damage our equipment.  So again, I always tell people "Less is More" when it comes to filling divots.

Cart Traffic:  We, as a maintenance staff, are going to need a lot of help with this one.  The general rule for carts is once you enter the fairway from the cartpath you stay in the fairway until you exit to return to the cartpath.  Even if your ball is in the rough we ask that you  pull up to the edge of the fairway, park, and walk out to your ball.  Parking in the rough and driving in circles searching for golf balls or just going to point A to point B is very bad for the rough.  I know that seems counter intuitive since the rough turf is much longer than the fairway turf and you feel that it should be much hardier and be able to sustain the extra stress.  Unfortunately, that just is not the case and once the rough starts going down hill due to stress (Which summer patch is a turf disease brought on by stress) it is hard to get it come back especially during the hot, stressful summer months.

Each hole will have two posts indicating where to exit the cartpath to drive to the fairway and where to head back to the cartpath (Par 3's will not have posts since they are all CPO).  The first post on each hole will be along the cartpath and the second post will approximately 20 yards short of the green to indicate where to exit the fairway and go back to the cartpath.  These posts will me frequently to help disperse cart traffic evenly.

If you ball is in the rough near the edge of the fairway, please park your cart in the fairway and not in the rough

Another example of where not to park.  Pull your cart up to edge of the fairway, while staying in the fairway, park and walk out to you ball.

Why we have frost delays...

As a golfer, there are few things worse than a frost delay, maybe going CPO (Cartpath Only).  But as a Superintendent I promise there is a reason...

Frost is essentially frozen dew that crystallizes on the grass.  If you didn't already know, grass is comprised of 90% water much like the human body.  When explaining to people why we have frost delays I typically relate it the human body.

Since the grass is comprised of so much water it also freezes along with the dew on the surface.  This makes the individual blades of grass very brittle (especially the low mow'n areas like the greens).  Walking or driving on the turf while it is frozen causes the cell walls inside the plant rupture making it impossible for the plant to function properly much like breaking your arm or even your back.  But unlike the human body the turf cannot repair itself, you will have to wait till better growing conditions and new grass germinates.  Which it happens early on in the cooler months you will be looking at damaged and affected playing surfaces for months

And why we are so careful...

The average golfer takes 60 steps on each green.  Multiple that by 18 and then lets say its a decent winter day and we have 65 rounds.  That comes out to 70,200 steps just on the greens.  That is a lot of pressure to put on turf that is cut down as low as an eighth of an inch and is made up of 90% water.

And it is very difficult to judge when it will lift.  Have to consider shaded areas, low areas, and even sometimes it appears to be fine but the frost likes to linger at the base of the plant.   We do our best to judge when it maybe good to go but it is something to err on the side of caution...

We do it for the golfer, we promise...